Courtney Love 'expecting Steve Coogan's baby'

In one of the most unpredictable showbusiness pairings the rock singer Courtney Love has claimed she is expecting a child with Steve Coogan, the alter ego of nerdy chatshow host Alan Partridge.

Love, the widow of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain, told the News of the World yesterday: "Yes, I am pregnant with Steve's baby," but refused to comment further.

She and Coogan met while they were staying in the same hotel in Los Angeles and Love is now reported to be embarrassed at the affair, which lasted just two weeks. "What does it make me look like that I have slept with Alan Partridge?" she allegedly told a friend. "Given the A-grade stars I've dated it's embarrassing. I mean ... Alan Partridge!"

The friend went on to tell the newspaper that Love, the former lead singer of the rock band Hole, claimed that Coogan had a sex and drug addiction and said no decisions had been made about the future concerning the baby.

Coogan's spokesman has denied any romance, insisting they are "just good friends".

The singer, 41, who has an 11-year-old daughter from her marriage to Cobain, is undergoing a 28-day drug treatment programme. She was ordered into rehab after using drugs while on probation and will be sentenced for the violations next month.

Coogan, 39, was divorced from his wife of 16 months, Caroline Hickman, last month.